REVIEW:
The tenth installment to the long-running Samurai
Showdown series is known as Samurai Spirits
Tenkaiichi Kenkakuden in Japan (Samurai Spirits Tenka for short),
simply called Samurai Shodown
6 in America. SS6 brings back all 28 characters
from Samurai
Shodown 5 Special, and also marks the return of several classic characters
from the series that haven't been seen since Samurai Shodown
2 including Gen-an, Earthquake, Wan Fu, and Sieger.

Along with the
returning favorites, joining the roster are several newcomers such as: Iroha, Andrew,
Soguroku, and Ocha Maru; alternate versions of classic
characters, and even a handful of animal characters (now playable by themselves
for the first time) which easily makes for the biggest roster in the Samurai
Shodown series to date... 52 selectable characters in all, though quite a
few are still "palette" swaps.

52 characters in all...
whew!

Although "Bust" and "Slash" versions of characters are a
thing of the past, SS6 introduces the "spirit select" system that allows players to choose between
nine specific character settings which tweak your character's abilities
and play style. Depending in the "spirit" mode you select, your
character will be capable of doing different things during a fight, such as
being able to knock away your opponent's weapon or break it all together.
Special attacks, defense/evading techniques, and even combo possibilities differ
depending on the "spirit" you select, which adds a lot of diversity to
the game on top of the vast character roster.

Pirates of the Caribbean
stage.

SS6 isn't nearly the best looking 2D fighter around but it isn't bad, although previous installments do look mighty
similar and possibly even "outshine" this version graphically. The stages of
SS6 are refreshingly different, and have a really "sharp" appearance
which is both a good thing and bad thing in some ways. The scrolling effect that many 2D SNK fighting games
are known for is back once again, and does appear to be " smoother" than
ever,
but due to the sharp backgrounds, the "pixelation" stands out a bit
more than usual. The past backgrounds in the Samurai Shodown series have always been
hand drawn, and were no doubt incredibly "moody" and simply beautiful...
SS6's stages aren't bad in comparison, but they're somewhat on the gritty
looking side and the
background characters appear quite stiff to say the least. No doubt backgrounds
in previous games were far more memorable, and I would have actually much rather seen
Samurai
Shodown 6 packed with classic locations rather than entirely new ones. The new BGMs
are pretty cool, and the redone voice acting is also well done and noticeably different, but
again slightly pales in
comparison when compared to the series' past.

These two haven't met
since Samurai Shodown 2!

Sadly, there's no blood in SS6...
and even more depressing, no fatalities. It's
weird that they took out such a staple element of the series... I
mean, how could they leave out the epic, stylish, slow-mo fatalities that the
series was known for? The question whether or not your opponent will actually
die on the final blow adds so much suspense and style to game (on top of
realism) and it's a bloody shame they decided to do away with it yet
again. There
are at least a wide variety of cool looking hit effects, and do justice to make the moves look
like they hurt... but no blood. Samurai Shodown with no blood...
*sigh* It's not like they're going to offend anyone nowadays... is the teen
rating that important to you SNK?
I'm glad Kuroko is back at least, and the delivery guy that throws in items
from the background (whom now throws in sub-weapons which can be picked up and
tossed at your opponent).

Cosmetic details aside,
the gameplay is still enjoyable and feels like a mix between all of the previous
installments... it's kinda weird actually. The game is smooth, yet slower in some places than it probably should be, but still has that
"pace" that the series is known for. Many characters have been toned down from previous versions, obviously to balance out the
game.... Balance is good, but what about fun? Honestly, many of the classic
characters were more fun to use in previous games.
You can still "make it work" with
your favorite character, but he or she most likely isn't going to play quite
as you remembered, and will likely feel toned down if you were any sort of Samurai Shodown
player in the past. It's also a shame there aren't really two versions of each
character like we had in SS3 or SS4, but the new spirit select system is
certainly better
than nothing.

Samurai
Shodown 6.... Nope, the series isn't quite where I'd hoped it'd be by now. Really,
the character sprites are still the same sprites that we saw in Samurai
Shodown 3, and some of which ironically, don't animate quite as fluidly
as in that game (not as many
frames). I suppose that's because the sprite artists wanted to have an
"orthodox" frame count, so they took frames away from characters who
had more to match the new characters they were introducing... It's
understandable (and lazy) and at least it gives good reason to go back and play
SS3. Overall the game animates well,
but the overall animation has been done slightly better in previous games, which is odd.

On that note, the gameplay, the mood, and almost everything else has also been
done better in previous games. I can tell that SNK took a lot of advice from
players during the creation of SS6, and balanced the characters out according to
the players who tested the game. Yeah, it makes for a more balanced game, but in
my opinion, it's not as fun as previous versions for that very reason... Samurai Shodown 2 and
Samurai Shodown 4 are still my favorites of the series by far, but with
such a huge roster, what fan of the series wouldn't like this game. The game is
still fun, it's still Samurai Shodown, but dammit... I want my opponent to
DIE at the end of the fight!!! >:/ ~TFG
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